Good Influence
by KassyMalone
Summary: Arthur Kirkland's not a bad person at heart, but a rocky childhood and easily influenced personality land him in a lot of trouble. Sentenced to community service at Hetalia Community Hospital, he's finally surrounded by some better people, but a chance encounter with a patient whose family never visits may influence it far more than he thought possible. Mapletea
1. Chapter 1

Drunk me thought there wasn't nearly enough mapletea in the world. Sober me agreed. A friend requested a sick-fic. First chapter, here we go!

* * *

**Good Influence**

Arthur Kirkland wasn't a bad boy at heart. A rough childhood, a succession of bad foster homes and an easily influenced personality all worked together to land the young man before the judge in juvenile court, charged with a series of petty crimes that ranged from spraying graffiti to, alarmingly, grand theft auto. Despite the charges, the judge was able to see that Arthur was basically a good kid, he just needed some better influences.

It was that which led him here, sentenced to 300 hours community service at Hetalia General Hospital. He wasn't allowed to work with the children, which he would have been good at, but rules are rules, and he wasn't allowed to handle the medicines for obvious reasons, but the nurses and orderlies found him very useful to have around, praising him for his hard work and never too shy to scold him for his filthy mouth.

"Arthur, are you actually going to go to school today, or are you going to be a bum skiver like always?" Dr Wang scolded in that usual way of his as he approached him down the hallway, brandishing his clip-board up high so that he could be seem amongst the taller people in the crowd "And while we're on the subject, are you eating properly? Does that disgusting bedsit even have a kitchen area? You're far too skinny!"

"You're one to talk." Arthur retorted as he picked up the pen to sign out "You look like a woman from behind!"

Dr Wang bonked him on the head with his clipboard as he reached him.

"Don't criticise adults!" he ordered "And you need to go to school!"

"What's the point?" Arthur grumbled, rubbing his head "I never learn anything! It's boring!"

"That's because you don't listen! And if you're not going to school, don't bother signing out – there's plenty for you to do here."

"I need to find a job." Arthur insisted.

"And who's going to hire some grumpy punk kid who doesn't even have a secondary school education?" Dr Wang pointed out "You want to spend your days washing dishes? Flipping burgers? Does that sound like fun to you?"

"At least it pays." Arthur grumbled indignantly, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.

Dr Wang responded by smacking his bare arms with the clipboard, forcing him to retract them in self-defence.

"You know, the hospital administrators are really impressed with you." the doctor reminded him "You're a hard worker, you keep your nose clean, not _once_ have you tried to get into the pharmacy, unlike some of the other juvvie kids we've had here before. You get a good reference from the staff, you could get a job here once your community service hours are over."

"That'll be a long time from now." Arthur pointed out "And in the meantime, I need to buy food and shit."

Dr Wang responded by tossing some coupons for the hospital cafeteria in his face.

"Food problem solved." he spat "In the meantime, we're short staffed thanks to that dodgy burger van in the carpark – I told the nurses it was unsanitary! I know a dirty kitchen when I see it."

"Dr Wang," Arthur sighed.

"No arguing." Dr Wang insisted "Put some scrubs on, we need you to deliver the breakfast to the patients on the fourth floor. Chop chop!"

He clapped his hands for emphasis, making it clear that there was no room for argument. Arthur bit his tongue, what with the promise of employment on the horizon, knowing that it was pointless to argue with this particular doctor. With a resignated sigh, he trudged back to the locker room, ignoring the smug look on the doctors face.

"Oh, Arthur?" Elizabetta, the head nurse called from the station as she saw him walk past "I thought you were leaving?"

"Dr Wang says you're short staffed." he told her "Made it pretty clear I was needed here."

"That infernal burger van." she grumbled, hands on her hips "I told the girls not to eat there – we've gotten five food poisoning cases from that van just this week!"

She sighed, making sure her hair was still tied back properly.

"Even so, this isn't your problem." she said "You should be going to school, not skipping to help is here. You _were_ going to school, weren't you?"

"I was thinking about it."

She bopped him on the head, just hard enough to convey her disappointment.

"Go get changed." she ordered "Did Dr Wang give you something to do?"

"Yes."

"Get on with it, then."

* * *

To his annoyance, everyone Arthur saw in the next hour said the same thing, starting with 'weren't you leaving?' or 'shouldn't you be in school?' and ending by telling him with needed to be done. He didn't need to go to school – he didn't need to spend his day being bored and judged, pushed around by dumbass teenagers and looked down on by the stuck-up teachers. Why should he have to go to a place like that? It's not like he was going to go to university, and he could get a good reference from the people at the hospital. School was pointless and stressful.

He much more enjoyed being here, even if he wasn't getting paid for it. Dr Wang and Elizabetta gave him lumps sometimes, but he could see it stemmed from concern rather than malice, and everyone else was very nice, even if stressed. He knew what needed to be done here, what he had to do to achieve his goals for the day, what needed to be finished by the end of the week – the clarity and simplicity of it was reassuring. He felt like he had achieved something when he went home, like he had been useful and appreciated. Whenever he left school, he just felt like shit and wanted to get drunk (which was one of the things he had been pulled up on charges for before...).

Dressed up in scrubs, he looked indistinguishable from the other orderlies, which always inspired confused looks from the older patients, who proceeded to mutter about professionals getting younger and younger. The hospital was pretty big, so it took him a while to get around with the patients meals, going back to the cafeteria for new trolleys several times. It was nearly noon by the time he made it to the last room on the floor, giving the door a light but sharp knock.

"Come in." a somewhat confused voice called after a moment of silence.

He opened the door, pushing it open with his butt as he pulled the trolley in behind him. A kid who looked a similar age to him sat up in the bed, confused expression on his face.

"Hey, you hungry?" Arthur asked him, dropping the professional tone with someone his own age "I got breakfast."

"Oh? Y-yeah!" the kid said, stumbling about to sit up properly "Sure."

"You okay?" Arthur asked "Didn't catch you at a private moment, did I?"

"No, no, nothing like that." he assured, missing the masturbation joke "It's just... no-one ever knocks around here, so I was a little surprised, that's all."

Despite the fact that the other boy was bigger, Arthur couldn't help but think that he was cute. He had a mop of curly blond hair, longer than Arthur's short back and sides, with bewildered violet eyes behind his square glasses. He fumbled to turn off his game, putting it aside as Arthur got the tray from the trolley and positioned the table.

"What do we have today?" the boy asked.

"Fruit, some kinda goop and something that I think used to be eggs."

"My favourite!" the boy laughed "I haven't seen you before – are you new here?"

"Not really." Arthur confessed "But I don't usually work on this floor. You been here long?"

"Longer than I'd like." the boy admitted "I'm Matthew."

"Arthur. You want me to open the curtains while I'm here?"

"Oh, don't worry about that." Matthew insisted, picking up his plastic knife and fork "It's fine like this."

"You'll ruin your eyes." Arthur pointed out, crossing the room to open them anyway.

Matthew didn't complain, just smiling shyly. In the light of day, the dark bags under his eyes and sallow skin were far more noticeable, but Arthur knew better than to ask what was wrong with him. He picked up a few bits and bobs that had been discarded on the ground, folding the clothes and putting them away as the boy ate. By the time he was done cleaning, all the food was gone.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked, feeling a little sorry for Matthew "Magazine, medicine, fresh batteries?"

"No, I'm okay." Matthew assured "Thanks for thinking of me, though. It looks nice in here now that it's clean"

"No problem." Arthur said, taking the tray "Talk to you later, Matthew."

"Yeah, talk to you later."

* * *

It was two o'clock when Arthur got his break, making use of the coupons Dr Wang had given him to get lunch in the staff cafeteria. The lovely Korean lady who worked there always thought he looked far too thin and gave him double helpings of everything, so by the time he got to his dessert he was completely stuffed – she refused to take the extra large helping of chocolate cake back, but Arthur just couldn't bring himself to throw away food. After a moments thought, he grabbed a fresh fork and ran from the cafeteria, ignoring the nurses yelling at him, and went back to the fourth floor. He knocked on the door again, waiting for Matthew to call back before opening the door.

"Hey, you like cake?" Arthur asked him as he entered.

"I love cake." Matthew responded.

"Then today's your lucky day!"

Matthew put his game away as Arthur pulled the table back up, laying the cake down.

"Good grief!" Matthew laughed "You could kill a small animal with this!"

"Death by calories!" Arthur agreed "Not diabetic, I hope?"

"No, but I might be when I finish this."

They both chuckled. Matthew picked up the fork, poking the cake awkwardly a moment.

"Hey, are you busy?" he asked carefully "Are you able to sit with me for a while?"

"Sure." Arthur agreed "I happen to be on lunch right now."

"Oh! I don't want to take up your lunch break!"

"It's fine, it's fine." Arthur insisted, pulling up the chair beside the bed, finding it far too low for his liking and deciding just to stand "I'd rather talk to you than try to avoid another lecture from Dr Wang on 'young people today'."

Matthew laughed, smiling happily.

"Yeah, I've met Dr Wang." he said "He's... enthusiastic."

"And shrill." Arthur added "Mostly shrill."

Matthew laughed again, finally digging into his cake.

"He looks kind of young to be grumbling about 'young people', though." he thought.

"Lizzie says he's about 20 years older than he looks."

"Well, he looks about 9."

Arthur burst out laughing.

* * *

Time passed quickly as the two of them sat talking – so much so that Lizzie came looking for him, wondering if he had gone home without signing out. Matthew was full of apologies, which made her laugh, reassuring him that Arthur wasn't in too much trouble as he filed out, Lizzie closing the door behind him.

"Sorry," Arthur said again "Time got away from me."

"I'll let you off this time." she replied "I'm sure you both enjoyed having someone your own age to talk to, but if you're going to sit and talk then sign out first."

"Doesn't it count as patient care?"

"Nurses don't get paid for it, so it doesn't count towards your hours either."

"That's harsh."

"I know. Come on, sweetie, there's lots to do this afternoon."

* * *

Arthur was physically aching come 6pm, shoulders sore as he pulled on his jacket. Why did he agree to stay so long? Sure, it had been a busy day, and he could admit that they clearly needed him, but it wasn't like he was getting paid. Ugh, he should have just gone home.

"Hey, good job today!" Dr Wang called as he poked his head around the locker room door "Take your ass to school tomorrow – you're too dumb to skip this much!"

"Fuck you!" Arthur spat, more grumpy than usual tanks to the long day.

Dr Wang just cackled, sauntering off down the hall. He had been here just as long – how was he not exhausted? Grumbling to himself, he pulled on his bag and headed down the hall. Would he be able to make it to the door without someone else wanting something?

"Oh, Arthur!"

Nope.

With a sigh, he stopped, shoulders tense and set like an angry cat. Lizzie wasn't perturbed, trotting over with a large parcel in his hands. She had untied her hair, which was her own subtle signal that her shift was over and everyone should leave her alone. She smiled at him as sweetly as one could at the end of a twelve hour shift without nearly enough staff.

"Before you go, would you mind dropping this off for Matthew?" she asked, polite but clearly having had enough "It just got sent up from the post room – don't ask me where it's been all day."

"Sure." Arthur agreed wearily, taking it from her "I'm going that way anyway. You got the kids tonight?"

"Yeah." she confirmed "I need to go get them from my mothers, so she's sure to lecture me about getting remarried again." she sighed "Anyway, you have a good night."

"You too."

They parted ways, both trudging off. Arthur yawned widely as he got into the lift, making one of the night nurses laugh, and hoped that this wouldn't take too long. Not that he had anywhere to be or anything to do, but he was knackered and needed a cigarette. Hopefully his parents were visiting, so he could just drop the package off and leave.

He knocked on the door, surprised to hear a laugh on the other side.

"Come in, Arthur." Matthew called.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked as he entered the room.

"You're the only one who knocks." he explained "Three visits in one day – I must be lucky. To what do I owe the honour?"

Arthur held the package up, surprised to see Matthew's face fall at the sight of it.

"I see." was all he said, disappointment clear in his voice "Thanks for bringing it."

Matthew made no move to get up from his bed, staring forlornly at the sheets. His sulking face was very childlike and adorable, making Arthur's punk heart melt a little.

Well... he didn't have anywhere to be...

Walking over, he dropped the box down on the table in front of Matthew, startling him a little, and hoisted himself up on the bed, throwing his bag at Matthews feet.

"So, what'd you order?" he asked "Porn? Weed? Russian wife?"

Matthew snorted, starting to laugh. He adjusted himself to comfortably face Arthur, hands going to the package.

"Nothing like that." he admitted "It's from my dad. He works away a lot, so he can't come and visit me much."

He tore the package open, revealing the typical care package of snack foods, magazines, stationery and a new game for his handheld. He looked less than thrilled, sighing through his nose.

"I really don't like these crisps." he muttered "I have told him..."

Wow, he had the most ridiculous puppy-dog eyes. Feeling his heart strings pull, Arthur took the offending crisps, opening them up and chomping down a handful. Matthew was understandably surprised.

"I'll eat these." Arthur pointed out "I'm starving. I'll bring you another bag tomorrow – what do you like?"

Matthew blinked a few times as the cogs whirred in his brain, finally realising what Arthur was doing. He smiled shyly, blushing a little.

"I don't suppose you live near Chinatown?" he asked.

"It's not far." Arthur admitted.

"Have you ever seen those syrup flavour crisps? The ones that have sesame seeds on?"

"No, but I'll find them."

"I don't want to put you out." Matthew insisted.

"You aren't putting me out." Arthur assured "I'm eating you stuff, aren't I?"

"Thanks, I owe you one..."

Matthew fingered through the contents of the box, his forlorn expression not lost on Arthur. He soon put it aside, turning his attention completely to his companion.

"Shift over?" he asked "You look really different out of your scrubs. I didn't want to ask about those holes in your ears."

"Yeah, for today." Arthur confirmed "But I'll be back tomorrow, and the day after. And that day after that."

"Hey, me too! What a coincidence!"

Matthew laughed awkwardly, sitting back against his pillows.

"I guess you're going home now. Much going on this evening?"

"Not a damn thing." Arthur confessed "You? Anyone coming to visit you tonight?"

"No." Matthew said matter-of-factly "No-one's come to see me for a while now."

Arthur immediately felt awkward, especially when he saw the look on Matthews face. He had clearly put his foot in it.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he started.

"It's okay." Matthew interrupted "You weren't to know... it's complicated. There's just the three of us at home and Dad's away a lot..."

Coming from a 'complicated' background himself, Arthur didn't pry, but he could see it was clearly upsetting for Matthew. There was something so terribly sad about being in the hospital and knowing no-one was going to come visit... Arthur sighed, pulled off his leather jacket and kicked off his boots, sitting up crossed-legged on the bed.

"So," he said "What game did you get?"

* * *

When Dr Wang noticed that Arthur's beat-up little motorbike was still sitting in the staff carpark at 9pm, he was understandably concerned. Having almost run through the halls of the hospital, he was relieved to find him still in Matthews room, chatting and joking with him. He hadn't seen Matthew smile in a long time, but of course it would be Arthur that bought it out of him (and if it kept Arthur out of trouble, then mores the better). Perhaps they would be good influences of each other...

That didn't stop him marching in and clipping them both around the ear: this was a hospital, afterall, and people were trying to sleep!

* * *

Slightly longer than other chapter's I'm writing at the mo, but I've got to get back into writing seriously if I'm going to finish my project this year. Please look forward to more!


	2. Chapter 2 Good Decision

Sorry for the delay folks - my keyboard died! Now I got a new one, so fingers crossed it's full steam ahead!

* * *

**Good Decision.**

"Well?" Matthew asked "What did you think?"

"It's okay." Arthur conceded "But I still prefer Shakespeare."

"I tried to get my head around Much Ado About Nothing, but it was too difficult for me. I ended up watching the movie – sorry."

Arthur gave Matthew back his copy of Wind in the Willows, hoping up onto the bed and helping himself to the bowl of grapes.

"Don't be sorry." he said "It's just a book, and the prose can be pretty impenetrable for a beginner. A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favourite."

"I'll give it a try." Matthew promised, digging through his pile of magazines to pull out the play-book "Is it in this one?"

"No, it's in the next one. I'll bring it in for you tomorrow."

Arthur took back the battered, well-loved paperback, dog-eared and crooked-spined from years of reading and re-reading. It was noticeably more decrepit than Matthews book which, while old, was almost pristine.

"One day I'll get a new copy." Arthur swore "A nice one. A hardback or something, one of those ones that looks really classy from the side."

"I know the type you mean." Matthew confirmed "Is that the type your parents had?"

Arthur went quiet, eyes distant and sad, and Matthew immediately regretted asking.

"No." Arthur said simply "They weren't really into books."

"I see." Matthew responded, resolved not to pry any further "Well, at least you can talk to me about them now."

Arthur smiled at him. He had the kindest smile, Matthew loved looking at it.

Every day for a while now, Arthur came to see him during his lunch break and for a few hours after his shift, chatting and playing videogames and watching movies on his portable DVD player. Matthew was becoming very fond of him – he was funny, especially when he lost his temper at something, but he was also gentle and soft-spoken, despite his somewhat punky appearance after hours. It was difficult for Matthew to tell how old he was – he had a baby face, and wasn't much taller than Dr. Wang, but he had a job, lived on his own and rode a motorbike (well, a scooter), so he must be in his early 20's, at least.

He never asked Matthew about his family, which he took as a cue not to ask about his, especially as he never mentioned them to him. He understood that not everybody had great home lives, and he didn't want to say or do anything that would cause him to stop visiting.

"Speaking of books, you got any more recommendations?" Arthur asked.

"Well, my brother's favourite book is 2001: A Space Odyssey." Matthew told him "I've never read it – maybe we could read it together, compare notes?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Arthur agreed "I'll have to see if the library has a copy."

"No rush – I've got to finish Midsummer Night's Dream first."

There was a familiar throat clear from the door – they looked around to see Dr Wang waiting, clipboard in hand importantly, and the boys took the cue that it was time to wrap up their lunch break. Arthur stuffed a few more grapes into his mouth, making Matthew laugh when he grinned at him, and jumped off the bed, giving them both a little salute as he left. Even Dr Wang smiled, closing the door being him.

"How are you feeling, Matthew?" he asked "Better? You and Arthur seem to be getting along well."

"Yeah, he's a lot of fun." Matthew confirmed "And I am feeling better. You think I can go back to school soon?"

The doctors smile faltered, which told Matthew everything he needed to know. Walking over to the bed slowly, Dr Wang looked through the notes on the clipboard, picking his words carefully.

"The good news is, the swelling on your brain has gone down, and the surgery has been very effective. Now your hair's growing back, no-one will even be able to tell where the metal plate is."

"And the bad news?"

The doctor looked up at him, sighing awkwardly.

"The puncture in your lung doesn't seem to be healing at all." he admitted "We may have to go into surgery again. Despite our best efforts, we're still not sure if we can save your leg or not – we hoped that it would respond well to therapy, but that doesn't seem to be the case. All we can do now is to wait to see if it gets any worse, and decide what to do then."

Matthew was silent. This wasn't the news he was hoping for. His good mood vanished, leaving him feeling hollow. He pulled his legs up to his chest, his bad leg sliding across the linen without feeling, his chest aching as he wrapped his arms around his knees. The doctor patted his back sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Matthew." he said earnestly "Recovering may take a long time, but at least you're out of the woods now. I'm sure your dad will be happy: you want to give him a call?"

"Not right now." he answered monotonously "Thank you for the offer."

Dr Wang stayed with Matthew for a bit, talking over his options and comforting him as best he could, but it all went in one ear and out the other. The doctor seemed to pick up on this, eventually leaving him alone to tend to his other patients.

Matthew curled up into a ball, burying his head as low as he could. He should be used to this. He should be used to bad news. He had already lost so much... but it still hurt. His chest ached, and not just from his punctured lung, but with not tears left to cry, he just sat in silence in the empty hospital room.

* * *

"...And what exactly is this for?" Arthur asked.

"Don't look so suspicious." Dr Wang scolded "I need a reason to do something nice?"

"Generally, yes."

Dr Wang grimaced, shoving the money into Arthur's hands.

"Just shut up and order some pizza." he demanded "You can even use the phone on the nurses station – tell them I said it was okay."

"Okay, but why?" Arthur repeated, taking the bills and shoving them into his pocket.

"Because," he replied, looking away awkwardly "Matthew had some bad news today – but don't ask me what! You're the only one who goes to visit him, so it's on you to cheer him up!"

"You don't have to tell me that!" Arthur nearly yelled "I woulda done it anyway!"

Arthur was well aware of the fact that no-one came to visit Matthew – he had mentioned that his father worked away, but didn't talk about his mother or any siblings. Arthur didn't want to talk about his family, so he didn't pry into Matthew's personal business, but if he was sad then Arthur didn't mind being the one to cheer him up.

Arthur had never met anyone like Matthew: Arthur was used to people who were rough, violent and kinda stupid, but Matthew was... he was so... _fluffy_. That was the only word Arthur could use to describe him. Talking to him in the evening was like being wrapped up in a big warm blanket that smelled of pleasant childhood memories. His voice was soft and melodic like a shy bird, even when he was angry or breathlessly enthusiastic, and even when he disagreed with Arthur, it was like the idea of raising his hand to him was so foreign that it would need translating. Arthur liked him – he liked his calm. He could do with more calmness in his life.

Even if Dr Wang hadn't given him money for pizza, he would have gone to see Matthew before going home. It's not like he had anyone waiting at home for him anyway... Knowing Matthew could be picky about his food, Arthur thought it was best to decide what to order together, trotting up to his room and habitually knocking on the door before letting himself in.

"Hey, guess what!" he called "It's time for a-!"

Arthur stopped talking: Matthew was curled up on his bed, arms around his knees, head down, and looked like he had been like that for a while.

"Matthew?" he called.

Dr Wang said he had some bad news today. It must have been really bad... Arthur walked over, kicked off his shoes and climbed up onto the bed in front of Matthew, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, you alive?" he asked gently.

Matthew stirred a little, looking up at Arthur. He hadn't been crying, but he looked like he desperately needed to, eyes hollow and devastated, skin ashen and cold to the touch. He looked at Arthur like a traumatised child pleading for love, breaking his heart.

"Hey," he greeted quietly "I don't think I'm good company tonight. Maybe you should just go home o-"

What utter nonsense. Arthur put his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. Matthew was surprised a moment, but recovered quickly, returning the embrace like a starved man grabbing the last morsel of food, shaking a little, but still not crying.

* * *

"It started when I came out to my family." Matthew told Arthur, picking up a slice of pizza from the large flat box "My parents did their best to deal, but my brother had some issues. I mean, he's not a bad person, but he's kind of a block-head – he gets an idea in his mind, nothing can dislodge it: he thought he could 'fix' me, make me straight again by doing 'macho' stuff. We went rock climbing, fishing, quad biking, mountaineering... it was actually pretty fun. It was a good few months."

Arthur stayed silent, stuffing his mouth with spiced wedges as he sat opposite Matthew on the bed, listening patiently. Matthew picked at his pizza, took a little bite and swallowed before continuing.

"My brother had this dirt bike." he went on "Saved up for months to get it. Our parents always forbid him from going out on it without the protective gear, but it was really hot and they weren't home. I tried to talk him out of it, but he's so stubborn... I ended up going with him, just to make sure he didn't kill himself doing something stupid. Turning a corner, we ploughed right into a car. The helmet I was wearing wasn't any good, and without the protective clothing... well, you can imagine, it was pretty bad. The person in the car didn't make it..."

"That's awful..." Arthur sympathised.

"Yeah." Matthew agreed "No doubt. I broke a whole lot of bones, including cracking my skull and denting my spine in a few places. I'm full of pins and plates, and one of my lungs is still deflated."

"I can't even imagine... it's a miracle you're alive!"

"'Miracle'..." he muttered bitterly "I'm alive, but it's come at a cost. I used to play hockey, go on nature trails and up mountains all weekend... I wasn't a great athlete or anything, but I was active, I liked to go outside and do things. Now I can't walk more than a few steps without getting out of breath or falling down... they still might take my leg off, they haven't decided yet. If it gets any worse..."

Matthew put what was left of his slice down on the box lid, just staring at it forlornly.

"I just feel like my whole life is ruined." he said quietly "I can't do anything I used to. I can't even do normal things, like go to school and play games with my brother and... I don't know, walk to the bathroom and back without needing help! It's just bad news after bad news, and nothing ever gets better! My life is over!"

Arthur put his hand on Matthews, fixing his violet eyes with a steely gaze.

"That isn't true." he said certainly "It's not over as long as you're alive. It's not over as long as you're willing to sight for it!"

"Arthur..."

Arthur got up onto his knees, wiping the seasoning from his mouth, and knelt down before Matthew, taking both hands and looking at him seriously.

"Listen to me, Matty, 'cos I'm only gonna say this once." he said "I've seen weaker people come back from worse stuff, and I mean some seriously messed up shit – methadone and morpheme abuse, beatings so bad their retinas dislodged – hell, I saw a man who got shot six times in the chest, and three months later he was walking down the road eating an ice-cream. If those bastards and degenerates can get back up and keep living, so can you! You can't do the things you used to? Find new things! Only the good die young, so break out your 'badass' reserve and punch life in the face for what it took away from you!"

Matthew just stared at him, mouth open and wide-eyed, before blushing from his nose to his ears, looking away.

"You stay stupid things..." he muttered.

"I'm stupid, but I'm right!" Arthur insisted "And the best way to punch life in the face is to set a goal and defeat it!"

"Defeat it?"

"Like the first boss in a videogame!" he confirmed "First try! Come on now, think about it, what's our first boss? What do you want to do first?"

Matthew was still blushing awkwardly, although he was clearly cheering up from Arthur's enthusiasm. He thought for a moment.

"I want to go back to school." he said certainly "I wasn't a great fan of it while I was there, but... now that I _can't_ go, it's the thing I want to do most. I want to go back to school."

He looked at Arthur with hopeful eyes, as if he could grant his wish right then and there, making a cold shiver run down his spine.

"That's... more like a level three boss." he admitted, not able to look at him as he said it "Maybe level four... But you know, walking to the bathroom on your own is totally a level one boss! Once you've done that, walking down the school halls is only a matter of time! Yeah, I can totally see it now!"

Arthur grabbed a slice of the pizza, holding it aloft as he slipped his other arm around Matthews shoulders.

"Today the bathroom, tomorrow the world!" he declared.

"You're an idiot!" Matthew laughed.

"But I'm right!" Arthur insisted "Come on, eat up, this stuffs getting cold."

* * *

It was very late when Arthur finally left, the hospital eerily silent, only the night lighting on to guide the staff around. As he pulled his helmet out of his locker, giving it a good knock-about in his hands as Matthews story came back to him, Liz knocked on the door, tying her hair back as her night shift began.

"Just heading off?" she asked.

"Yeah." Arthur confirmed, fatigue clear in his voice.

"I heard you sat up with Matthew all night. I'm sure that meant a lot to him."

"Yeah," he said again "He was pretty upset."

Hearing how tired he was, she came over and ruffled his hair.

"Go get some sleep, kid." she said "You look like you need it. Early start tomorrow?"

"Kinda." he admitted "I guess."

"I might be seeing you again when I clock out tomorrow, then."

"Actually, I was thinking about not coming in until the afternoon tomorrow."

"Oh? You got somewhere else to be?" Liz asked.

"I was thinking... about going back to school." he told her, not able to look at the smugly happy expression on her face.

"Oh yeah?" she confirmed, not even trying to hide her opinion on the matter "Well then, If I do see you in the morning, you're going to be in big trouble, mister!"

She ruffled his hair again, leaving to start her shift with a merry wave. He laughed a little, sighing through his nose, and picked up his bag, kicking his locker closed, and wondering how badly he was going to regret his decision.

* * *

Matthews tragic backstory revealed! Can it get more tragic? If you answered 'no', you've not read anything I've written before...

Reviews always loved!


	3. Chapter 3 Seeing Double

I'm writing two very different stories at the same time at the moment, so hopefully I'll post the chapters to the right stories! If I do mess it up, don't hesitate to let me know!

* * *

**Seeing Double.**

Well, this had been a wonderful idea. He was so fucking happy he had gotten out of bed today, really. What an absolute fucking delight.

After being hauled into the head masters office to get an ear bollocking over his lack of attendance, his earrings, his unironed uniform, his scruffy shoes, his sneering face, and whatever else he felt like bitching at him about, he was given his schedule and booted out the door, just in time for second period.

He sucked on his teeth as he looked over his schedule – he'd been shuffled down to the lower tier with the idiots. Despite not being the best student, Arthur wasn't stupid, and could get good grades when he really tried. That being said, he'd missed a lot of school – maybe they'd move him up to the middle tier when he caught up. Stuck in the lower tier, it wouldn't take him long.

Whatever. He sighed, regarding the crude map on the back of his schedule, and pulled up his grey uniform trousers: they were hand-me-downs from one of his brothers, and far too big for him, but it's not like he had the money to replace them. His grey crested jumper was too large as well – hell, his underwear was about the only thing that fit him properly. At least at the hospital he could wear the scrubs like everyone else...

The school was just your average concrete Comprehensive, with plastic floors and paper-thin walls, held together with spit and sticky-tape as if the builders had hated every second of putting it together. They probably had – it would have been ugly even when it was new. As he walked the halls to double maths, he looked around at the students – just the same stupid children there always were; Year 7's with pigtails and massive bags, ties correctly fastened all the way up by their mothers; Year 9 girls in short skirts and counsel estate facelifts trying to look older than they were by stuffing their bras and wearing far too much make-up; ridiculous Year 10 boys who thought they were hard stuff, with close to clean-shaved heads and fat ruddy faces whose every other word was 'wot'.

Just another school.

Joy.

He swallowed his pride, kept his head down and took his seat in the classroom.

* * *

Arthur was right – lower tier classes were easy a fuck. The mistreated and graffiti laden textbooks were so patronisingly simple that he felt like spitting on them, his patience stretched to breaking point by his simpleton classmates who asked the same questions over and over and over because they were too stupid to fucking well pay attention when the teacher told them over and over and over.

Jesus fuck! Fourth period ended, signalling the start of lunch, and it couldn't have come soon enough – he all but ran for the door, leaving his poor geography teacher just staring at his back, but was abruptly stopped at the door by a wall of a man, whom he ran headlong into, practically bouncing off.

"Hey, careful there." the man bid, putting hand on his shoulder to steady him "No running inside, okay?"

Arthur looked up at him, feeling dwarfed by the size and girth of him as he blocked the door – he was clearly Eastern European, with accent to match: was he a teacher here? What would he even teach? He examined Arthur just as closely, which made him uncomfortable.

"Arthur Kirkland?" he asked.

"Y-yes...?"

"Oh!" he declared happily "How lucky! I was hoping to catch you – I'm Mr Braginski, your tutor. I wanted to talk to you, but you missed registration. Are you free now?"

"It's lunchtime." Arthur pointed out.

"Great, then you're free." Mr Braginski concluded "Do you have lunch?"

"No." he answered honestly.

"Okay, we'll fill out the forms." he said cryptically "Follow me."

Arthur didn't want to – this guy gave him the creeps, he was too friendly for a teacher – but he had to take a deep breath: he had to do better this time around. He couldn't get drawn into the same kind of trouble as he did before. He followed begrudgingly, down the hall past the cafeteria – where Mr Braginski stopped to buy a ridiculous amount of food – and to one of the those horrid green mobile classrooms which smelled of mould and bleach, which the teacher proceeded to walk right through, sitting on the rotting wooden steps on the other side, facing the bit of wooded rough which separated the school from the neighbouring houses.

"Sit, sit." he encouraged, tapping the step next to him.

"I'd rather stand." Arthur admitted.

"Have it your way." Mr Braginski conceded, taking one of the greasy school burgers out of the plain plastic bag and tearing it apart in his hands "Okay, so this here is your registration room. Registration is from 8.30 to 9. You have up to 8.50 to get here before being marked absent."

"I got this speech earlier." Arthur interrupted "From the headmaster."

"Okay." the teacher said, throwing the torn up bits to the ground in front of him before taking out another burger and eating half of it in one mouthful "You see those forms on the desk? Those are yours. Bring them in tomorrow."

"What are they for?"

"Free school lunch." Mr Braginski informed him "You meet the criteria, so it's fine. The food here has really improved lately – they only overcook things by a little bit now!"

He laughed at himself, looking at Arthur like he expected him to laugh along. He was unperturbed by his silence, shoving the other half of the burger into his mouth before taking out one of the bags of crisps, massaging the bag in his hands to crush them down into crumbs.

"You should take advantage." he suggested "Kids in your situation are able to get a lot of free stuff. Food, sometimes uniforms, and pens and stuff. Do you have pens?"

"Funnily enough, yes, I have pens."

"Okay. Let me know if you need more."

"Mr Braginski, what do you want?" Arthur snapped.

The teacher popped open the bag, spreading the crisp crumbs all over the ground around him.

"To talk to you." he said simply "I'm your tutor, afterall."

"Talk about that, sir?" Arthur pressed "I mean, thanks for the forms and all, I won't say no to free lunch, but-"

"Yes, yes." the teacher interrupted, rustling around in his bag "I know, you're hungry. Do you like apples?"

"I'm not asking _you_ for food." Arthur clarified.

Mr Braginski stopped rummaging, smiling at him gently. He looked like an idiot, and English clearly wasn't his first language, but there was enough going on behind his eyes that Arthur couldn't completely trust that he was a naive as he seemed.

"You've missed a lot of school." the teacher pointed out "During an exam year, too. Your coursework last year was good, but your test results very bad – we expect this from boys, to an extent. Girls always perform better in exams. You've missed a lot of coursework, and with the time you have left until exams, you can't catch up. I think, with hard work, you can get 5, maybe 6 GCSE's."

"You don't think I could get the whole lot?" Arthur huffed.

"Impossible, even if you didn't have your community service as well. There's just too much work, and you missed the January deadlines for some courses."

"So what, I'm doomed to failure?" Arthur spat, sticking his hands moodily in his pockets.

"Not at all." Mr Braginski smiled "I think we just need to prioritise – you should focus on the core subjects: maths, English, science, IT. You can still get up to a 'C' with the time you have left, and if you do you can get into a good vocational course at college. You should give up on uni, though."

"It was never in my plans." Arthur admitted "No-one in my family's been to university."

"Okay, good." he answered honestly "What do you want to do when you leave school?"

"I don't know... I want to work."

"Work at what?"

"I don't know! I haven't decided yet!"

"Hmm."

Mr Braginski took one of the drinks out of the bag, opening it thoughtfully.

"May I ask – what did your father do?" he probed.

Arthur didn't reply.

"Your mother?" the teacher went on "Aunts and uncles? Older siblings?"

Arthur still didn't answer. He had no good things to say on the subject. Mr Braginski seemed to understand anyway.

"It can be difficult, when you've only seen one way of life, to imagine a future any other way." he said softly "But you've got a second chance. I don't think you're a bad boy – I think you still have a chance for a good future, but you've got to have a goal. Start with something you like. You have a hobby? A passion? You can train in that, make a career out of it. There's still time."

Arthur sighed through his nose. He knew what Mr Braginski was saying was right, but he didn't want to hear it right now. His attention was caught by a rustling in the undergrowth, near where that weird teacher had thrown all his torn up food – cautiously, eyes up at them the whole time, a group of tiny kittens tried their best to creep out from under the bushes, but they were too young to handle it successfully, stumbling over their little legs. They mewed pitifully, sniffing at the bits of burger before trying to eat them, but even torn up the the pieces were too big for their mouths. Mr Braginski practically 'squeed' in delight, keeping perfectly still.

"The RSPCA took the mother yesterday." he told Arthur "She was micro-chipped, and her owners reported her missing, but we couldn't catch these ones. I hope I get them trusting me enough that I can take them home soon."

"Burger isn't good for them." Arthur knew.

The teacher just laughed again. His nature irked Arthur, but he didn't seem like a bad person. At least he seemed pretty sensible where his students prospects were concerned.

"Hey," Arthur started "What makes you think there's still hope for me? You don't know anything about me."

"You think this is my first year teaching?" Mr Braginski answered "I've seen many children, many good and bad, many like you. Those who can't be helped – they don't listen. They sit there, sucking their teeth, rolling their heads on their shoulders like parts of their spine are missing, looking at sunbeams and mouthing off because they think it's funny. I hate those kinds of children – it's not a case of being dumb... it's very frustrating for teachers, those kind of children. You're not like that. You've listened, taken in what I said. I think you're a good boy. You had a bad start, but that doesn't mean you have to have a bad end."

The teacher pulled the last burger from the bag, offering it to Arthur with his usual smile. He took it, walking over quietly and sitting down on the step beside him, watching the kittens nibble at the bits of meat and bread at their feet.

* * *

It wouldn't be a complete school day without some little shit starting a fight. As the final bell rung, Arthur made his way to his scooter in the parking lot, only to be stopped by a group of slap-heads looking for trouble, rounding on him with the typical 'newbie', 'short arse' and 'pretty boy' jibes with 'wot' and 'oi' every other word. So far, so typical.

Faced with an actual punk, however, they soon found themselves in trouble – Arthur wasn't afraid to hurt people, especially when they thought they could outnumber him. With one in the headlock, one by the back of his shirt and another under his boot, half the idiots ran away crying, back to their mothers no doubt, as Arthur bought the pain.

There was a loud shout from across the field – a group of boys in PE kits came running over full pelt, their studded shoes clacking harshly against the paving stones. They were older boys, clearly coming over to stop the fight, so the boys struggled harder to get away.

"Hey, you let those boys go!" one ordered.

"Fuck, they're prefects!" one of the ruddy-faced whelps noticed "Gerroff!"

The prefect grabbed the boys from Arthur's grip, throwing them away and giving Arthur a hard shove.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he accused "You get your jollies starting on kids or something?!"

"Hey, I didn't start shit!" Arthur defended, pushing him back "Those little fucks started it, I ended it!"

"_I'm_ ending it!" the prefect corrected "Who's your tutor? What house are you in?"

"Margaret Thatcher, and your mothers house." Arthur sassed "Spare me the big bad prefect act, will ya, I really don't give a shit and it makes you look constipated."

"I'm going to report you for this!"

"Go for it." he challenged, pulling his packet of cigarettes out of his bag and putting one in his mouth just for emphasis "I'm going to work. Hasta-la-bye-bye, mo... Matthew?"

One of the boys in the back of the group caught Arthur's attention. He was tall and athletic looking, and aside from having much shorter hair, he was the spitting image of Matthew! Not even in a 'corner of your eye' kind of way, but very noticeably. He visibly recoiled at being called 'Matthew'.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy asked defensively, voice higher and more uptight than Matthews "Do I know you?"

"I'm Arthur..." he started before shaking his head "Y'know what, forget it, you're obviously not him."

He couldn't get over how much he looked like him, though... it was eerie. His staring was clearly making the boy uncomfortable. Good, he was an ass. Arthur flipped them all off as he left, soliciting nothing but irked silence.

* * *

Dr Wang and Lizzie looked almost disgusted as Arthur signed in at the hospital half an hour later, still wearing his school uniform with his bag slung over his shoulder.

"Ugh, who is this delinquent?!" Dr Wang demanded "Some scruffy school child is cluttering up my hallway!"

"Fuck you." Arthur spat.

"Good god, it's Arthur! You really did go to school today!"

"That uniform really doesn't fit you very well." Liz pointed out.

"I'm aware of that." Arthur grumbled.

"Those trousers are ridiculous." Dr Wang spat "Are you wearing a tent? Even in your punk leathers, you look more presentable!"

"Well, excuse me for being fucking broke, but beggars can't be choosers!"

"Arthur dear, hurry up and change." Liz urged before an argument could break out "And give your hair a comb before going out on the ward."

* * *

"Hey, there you are!" Matthew greeted happily, putting down his magazine as Arthur brought him his dinner "You didn't come by for lunch, so I was a little lonely. Are you on the night shift today?"

"Not as such." Arthur admitted.

Putting the tray down, he took a good look at Matthews face. Looking at him now, while his face was almost identical, his colouring was a bit lighter than that other boys, his hair curlier. Matthew was cuter, there was no two ways about it.

"Something wrong?" he asked, noticing Arthur staring at him.

"N-no." Arthur stammered, looking away as his cheeks grew hot "Sorry, just thinking."

Matthew laughed, taking up the plastic knife and fork.

"So, what do we have today?" he asked.

"Mush, green stuff, something that used to be cabbage, and that thing." Arthur responded.

"My favourite!" Matthew declared "So, where were you today?"

"I... was at college." he lied "Y'know... trying to expand my skill-set and all that. It's like a work/study thing."

"Oh yeah? That sounds interesting! I'm so jealous!"

"Well, it was just a taster day, to see how I liked it."

"Are you gonna keep going?" Matthew asked "I wish I could do something like that. You'll probably learn a lot – these kinds of courses are really good for your career, right? Is work paying for it?"

"...Yeah." Arthur confirmed "I'll probably keep going. For now, anway."

"Cool." Matthew finished "So, how was your day?"

* * *

Around 10pm, Arthur had had enough. Being here after going to school was so much more tiring than just being here all day. Opening his locker, he was surprised to see his bag covered with a few pairs of neatly folded grey school trousers, which on closer inspection were brand new, labels still attached, and conveniently in his size. Looking over, he saw his old pair shoved unceremoniously into the bin.

With no room to argue, he placed the trousers neatly into his bag and went home.


	4. Chapter 4 Good Grief

Hey, folks! Sorry for the delay on this one - some important work came up at short notice on a tight deadline, so I had to put this on hold! But I'm back now, with all new content! Rejoice!

* * *

**Good Grief**

Being a teacher was a lot harder than people realised: Mr Braginski couldn't remember the last time he had actually gone home at 5pm, let alone when the kids got to leave. It was just easier working at his desk in the mobile classroom than dragging everything home to mark, and once the kids were gone he could watch videos on his laptop. Sometimes he wandered if he might as well bring a sleeping bag in and just sleep there too, but that might have been a step too far.

He had been here so late last night marking the lower tier homework (God, some of them were so dumb...), that he hadn't had time to prepare for todays lessons, so had come in early. It was always interesting to see which kids came in early: the kids from bad homes who needed to get away quickly; the delinquents who wanted to get their homework done before class without being bothered; the kids with anxiety who needed up psych themselves up: and, of course, Arthur Kirkland.

Arthur was very well aware of how far behind he had fallen. Every morning, he would turn up at around the same time as his teacher, setting himself up in an empty classroom to work on his coursework. He was studious and hard-working – even with how long he had been out, his work was a solid 'C'. Mr Braginski knew, as he often helped when he had questions or needed pointers. He often wondered what kids like him could have become if given better chances in life.

Arthur's scooter was already in the parking lot when Mr Braginski arrived. Figuring he was probably waiting outside for the classroom to be unlocked again, the teacher didn't hang around – sure enough, his tatty old bag had been abandoned on the wooden steps, but the boy himself was nowhere to be seen. He'd be back soon enough. Mr Braginski opened up the classroom, putting his stuff in the cupboard behind his desk. Quiet as a mouse, he crept to the back door and peaked out the window, hoping to catch a glance at the kittens before the kids scared them back under the bushes for the day.

Well, you could've knocked him over with a feather – the kittens were out in full force, mewing loudly as they confidently climbed all over Arthur's lap, one even on his shoulders. Beside Arthur was a couple of paper bowls, in which he had put some pound shop kitten food and water. The kittens weren't the least bit scared of him – suggesting that he had probably done this before. Mr Braginski smiled to himself before going about his business.

* * *

"...And then marco-san asked about the special edition coming out, and the whole group just lost it for like ten minutes. Sensei didn't know what to do!" Kiku enthused "But he signed my anniversary edition of the blu-ray, which was really cool. It was a lot of fun! You should come next time!"

"Sorry," Arthur apologised "If you skip community service, the police come looking for you, so it's not really worth it."

"You'd think the doctors would cut you some slack, considering how hard you work."

"It's not really them that's the problem."

Arthur finished off his crisps, tossing the packet in the bin as Kiku pulled something out of his bag. Between them on the desk was their coursework, which Kiku was giving Arthur pointers on. Kiku really stood out from the other kids in the school – his ironed, well fitting clothes and clean sensible hair made it pretty obvious that he was from a more well off family than most of the people here (including the teachers). Since Kiku had anxiety issues, along with English not being his first language, Mr Braginski had asked the Arthur to watch out for him, the two quickly becoming friends. They found common ground in their weakness to being easily influenced and their desire to avoid other people.

"Here, I got this for you." Kiku said as he handed over the book, clearly embarrassed "It's the one I was telling you about before..."

"Wow, you weren't kidding – her breasts are huge!"

Arthur took the book – what little writing there was was in Japanese, but you don't buy books like this for the words. Arthur flicked through it as Kiku finished eating: he wasn't as big a fan of 2D girls as his friend was, but he could appreciate big breasts in any medium. One thing, however, caught his eye.

"£35.50?!" he cried when he found the price sticker on the back cover, making his friend jump "That's two weeks worth of food! Kiku, I can't accept this!"

"Damn, I thought I got all of them." Kiku cursed to himself "But really, it's okay! I bought it for you! To thank you for being a good friend. It was only pricey because it's a rare hardback edition..."

"I can't, Kiku, you have to take it back!"

"If you don't want it, you can sell it online." Kiku suggested, knowing full well that he didn't have a computer "£35 is actually a good price for it, they go for way more in America. I'm not really as into big breasts are you anyway."

"If you say so..."

Arthur did want the book, but he seemed to have a better appreciation of what money was worth than Kiku did. He put the book in his bag, hiding it under his textbooks.

"By the way..." Kiku mentioned awkwardly "When are you going to be coming over? My parents still think I made you up..."

"As soon as my community service is done, I'll come stay the night or something." Arthur promised "I really don't have time right now."

"You must be nearly done by now." Kiku figured "The amount of time you spend there..."

"Yeah, it's coming up." he confirmed "If all goes well, I should be done by exams."

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Both boys sighed miserably – neither enjoyed PE, Kiku because he was bad at it, and Arthur because he knew the boys who did the best in it tended to be assholes. Regardless, Kiku grabbed Arthur's arm to stop him from skipping during their grim march to the changing room, leading to a few people calling them faggots and queers. Arthur didn't care when Kiku clung to him tighter, avoiding the other people in the hallway, only kicking someone viciously when they tried to smack Kiku on the head.

The worst part of this particular lesson was that they had to share the changing room with a couple of other classes, one of which _he_ was in. _He _liked PE, so was always one of the first people in the changing room. He always gave Arthur the stink eye, and Arthur always gave it right back.

"Alfred creeps me out." Kiku admitted quietly as the two got changed in the corner "We're in the same classes for the higher tier stuff: he's smart, but he hardly ever talks."

"The same could be said about you." Arthur pointed out.

"You're the only person he glares at, though – he's really friendly with everybody else."

"The exact opposite could be said about you."

"Did you do something to annoy him?"

"Who knows? Let's just hurry and get out of here. Hopefully it's not more rugby today – I don't know why Beilsmidt is so obsessed with that game."

"Who know?" Kiku laughed.

* * *

Good news: it wasn't rugby. Bad news: it was running laps around the sports field. After two and a half, Kiku had an asthma attack, so Arthur was sent back to the changing room to grab his inhaler. As he was leaving, there was a gentle 'thud' on the other side of the room, causing him to look over. A wallet had fallen out of someone bag. Not his problem, especially as it was over the side of the room where the preppy kids changed.

He was about to leave when he had a realisation: the teacher knew that he had come back to the changing room. If someone else came in and took the wallet, Arthur would be the one to take the blame. With a grumble, he quickly picked it up. It was a generic design, no way of telling who it belonged to. Maybe he had his cards inside.

Luckily, he did, but that wasn't what caught Arthur's attention: what caught his attention was the picture – Alfred, together with Matthew. So they did know each other. Considering how alike they looked, it wasn't a great leap of logic to assume that Alfred was Matthews brother. The one that never visited him. The one that put him in the hospital in the first place.

Arthur was tempted to steal all his money. Knowing he'd be sent to prison if he was caught committing another crime, he instead stuffed the wallet in the appropriate bag and ran back to the field, inhaler in hand.

* * *

"It's hard to imagine an adult with asthma." Matthew thought "It always seems like such a childhood thing."

"I understand your thinking, but asthma is adults is actually pretty dangerous!" Arthur warned him "A lot of people grow out of it, but if you don't you gotta be really careful."

"Sounds hard."

"Speaking of hard, how was your therapy today?" Arthur asked, picking at the massive slice of chocolate cake the nice Korean lady in the cafeteria had given him.

"I made it around the room using the walker!" Matthew bragged "It was exhausting, but I did it!"

"That's great!"

Matthew picked at the cake from the other side, poking it disinterestedly. Despite his happy news, he seemed down.

"You okay?" Arthur asked him "You're awfully quiet."

Matthew looked at him a moment before blushing, looking away again with a sad shake of the head.

"Matthew..." Arthur scolded "Tell me."

"It's just me being needy." he answered self-consciously "It's not a big deal. I just... I guess I miss you during the day. You're the only one who comes to see me just because, so now you're on your course it's kinda lonely. I'm happy you're enjoying yourself, but I wish you were here more... sorry, I'm being pathetic, just ignore me."

"It's not pathetic." Arthur assured "I enjoy spending time with you. I am pretty busy at the moment, but it's half term soon, so I can come hang out more."

"Half term?"

Arthur went a little cold, remembering that professional courses didn't go on half term holidays like schools did.

"Y-yeah," he backtracked "The course is attached to this college, so they shut down for half term, since the place gets all locked up."

"Sounds annoying." Matthew sympathised "At least we can hang out a bit more."

"Exactly." Arthur confirmed "Hurry and finish your half of the cake, I gotta get back on my shift soon."

* * *

Arthur was completely exhausted, and he was sure it showed. Early mornings at school, late nights at the hospital, all the work he was doing, and on a less than healthy diet... he was losing weight, getting pale, making silly mistakes. To keep going like this might just kill him, and as a doctor, Yao Wang couldn't ignore it. He had spoken with the people from the community service program already, and they had agreed to the terms he laid down, so all that was left was to talk to the boy himself.

Dr Wang watched for a moment from the door of the changing room. Arthur had always been a thin boy, but he was noticeably gaunt as he pulled off his scrubs and put his shirt on the wrong way around, pulling it off again only to put his arm through the collar and not realise until he was struggling to pull the sleeve over his head. With a tired sigh, he walked into the room as Arthur managed to pull the shirt off again.

"Arthur, I need to talk to you." he said.

"I'm just on my way out." he said, voice betraying exactly how exhausted he was.

"It won't take long." Dr Wang assured "I just wanted to let you know that you're not allowed to sign on during the week anymore."

"What?"

It took Arthur a second to realise what he had said, and immediately he became panicked.

"What do you mean, 'not allowed'?!" he cried "Did I do something wrong?!"

"Not at all." Dr Wang assured "If anything, you're doing too much of the right thing."

"I... I don't understand." Arthur admitted.

"You leave here between 9 and 10 every night." he pointed out "Your tutor Mr Braginski tells me you can at school as early as 7am. It takes you 45 minutes to get home, another 30 to get to school. Taking into account eating, bathing, hell, _anything_ else... How much sleep are you getting at night? 4 or 5 hours?"

Arthur's eyes flicked around as he did the maths in his head. He frowned as he came to a number he didn't like.

"It's not forever." he excused before putting his shirt on wrong a third time.

Dr Wang pulled it off, grabbing his arm seriously.

"It's no good finishing your community service if you end up in the hospital at the end of it!" he scolded.

"You're the one who wanted me to go to school!"

"And I'm glad you're going, but you have to learn how to take care of yourself! I've spoken with the community service people, and they've already agreed: you're not to come in unless it's the weekend or a holiday! You'll kill yourself if you keep working at this rate!"

"Bu...I..." Arthur stumbled over his words, brain too tired to come up with even the will to argue "It'll take longer... exams..."

"You'll get time off for your exams." Dr Wang promised "If you come in every day during your summer holiday, you'll be done before it finishes."

"But what about Matthew?" Arthur asked pitifully.

It pulled on Dr Wangs heartstrings – he didn't want Matthew to be alone any more than Arthur did, but he had a responsibility of care over the grumpy brat. He released his arm.

"It won't count towards your community service." he warned "And only twice a week when you're not working."

"But-!"

"We can discuss it when you're in a better position to argue! Right now, I have to put my foot down. I'm sorry."

Arthur looked betrayed, like a kicked puppy, making Dr Wang feel even worse. He knew this was going to make both boys miserable, but it was better than banning them from seeing each other all together.

"Grab your stuff." he ordered "I'm driving you home. I don't trust you on that scooter in the condition you're in."

* * *

Alfred wasn't particularly happy to see Arthur waiting for him when he got to school. That punk always had a sour expression on his face, and ever since he had mistaken him for his brother that time, it seemed like he wanted to get into a fight every time they saw each other. Alfred did his best to avoid him, but it seemed like today was the day that the delinquent was sick of waiting. At least he was alone (not that that otaku friend of his would've been much help...).

Arthur got up from the bench as the bus stopped outside the school. Sensing the tension between the two, the younger children quickly walked past them though the school gates. Alfred thought he might be able to take him if he started something, so stood his ground. It took Arthur a moment a say anything, as if just the act of speaking to Alfred was distasteful.

"You need to visit Matthew." he ordered "You're his brother – how do you think you would feel to be alone in the hospital all the time?"

"That's none of your business." Alfred defended.

"He's my friend – that _makes_ it my business."

"My brother doesn't have delinquents for friends."

"And yet even a delinquent visits him more than you do." he pointed out "If I find out next week that you haven't been to see him, I'll personally escort you there – even if it means I have to break your legs to get you to the hospital. You get me?"

Without waiting for a reply, the punk turned around and left, marching back to the school. Fucking brat. How the hell did he and Matthew know each other? It didn't matter, he wasn't going to see him. Let Arthur break his legs. Let him break every bone in his body, Alfred didn't care. He wasn't going to the hospital. He wasn't going to talk to Matthew ever again.

Adjusting his backpack with an uncomfortable sigh, Alfred walked into the school.

* * *

While hard work is a virtue, you gotta know when to take a break! I made myself pretty sick by working every weekend and holiday while I was in uni, but it was something that had to be done at the time... perhaps I'm not the best person to tell people to take breaks from work... but you should!


End file.
